Old Friends and New Enemies
by vanarian
Summary: K-unit meets a surprising old face at Brecon Beacons. They are sent out on a mission to find another surprising acquaintance, and a whole lot of trouble.
1. An Unexpected Reunion

**A/N: ****_Please keep reviewing. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner, but reviews inspire me!_**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Alex Rider. This makes me sad.**

K-unit had just gotten back from a tough mission when they were called in to Brecon Beacons for a refresher. The unit was also in the recovery process, because Snake and Eagle had both been injured, and they knew they wouldn't be sent out again for a while.

Three days in, they were called to the Sergeant's office to see him looking vexed. When they walked in, they heard him mutter, 'bloody MI6'.

"Wolf." he stated.

"Sir." Wolf saluted, looking the Sergeant in the eye. After a moment K-unit were waved into seats.

"Special ops is sending two agents here. They won't tell me why."

K-unit now had a good idea of exactly what had the Sergeant so irritated.

"They will both be staying with and training with your unit. Apparently, you are acquainted. I have no idea how."

The Sergeant paused and looked up at Wolf, who shook his head. "No idea."

The briefing continued as if there had been no interruption.

"One of them will arrive tomorrow. One will arrive the day after. They will most likely be staying a few weeks, possibly longer. The time could extend up to the entire duration of your stay here."

Wolf started to open his mouth to make an exclamation of surprise or outrage, he wasn't sure which, but Eagle stamped on his foot. The Sergeant paused only a moment more before he nodded to them.

"Dismissed."

K-unit filed out of the office. As soon as they'd left, Wolf burst out angrily, "I don't believe this! Wasn't it bad enough getting stuck with Cub? Are we the babysitting unit now? Why not stick them with some other unit for once?"

"Because," Eagle said in a thoughtful voice, apparently we're acquainted. but who?"

Snake mirrored Eagle's contemplative expression. "We've been backup for agents before, maybe it's two of them?"

Badger let out a groan. "If it's Johnston, shoot me now." The others laughed at him.

"Come on, Badger, what are the chances?" Snake asked teasingly.

Johnston had been an adequate agent with a high opinion of himself because he was assigned to Special ops. Badger had a disagreement with him, leading to a confrontation about the fact that his arrogance and presuming nature could get their unit killed. The confrontation consisted of a very vocal argument that had gotten them both warnings from their superiors - for which Johnston blamed Badger.

Wolf put the matter firmly from his mind. The agent would arrive tomorrow, and no amount of speculation would change who was coming.

He worked them as hard as ever that day, leaving no room for wondering, but that night they couldn't help their thoughts from drifting to the next day, their heads filled with idle speculation before they drifted into sleep.

When Badger woke the next morning, there was a fifth figure lying in one of the two bunks that had been brought in. He grinned as Wolf got the rest of the unit up silently, and the four of them moved quietly over to the bunk to wake up the agent.

They were forestalled by a sleepy voice saying, "If you're planning on imitating our lovely Sergeant, Wolf, I got quite enough of that last time we were here, thanks."

Wolf stepped back in surprise as a head of tousled brown hair emerged, short-cropped and standing on end, not quite long enough to hang into bleary blue eyes.

"...Fox?" K-unit stared in shock. Fox looked between them for a moment before laughing. "Sarge didn't tell you who was coming?" He asked good-humouredly.

"Sarge didn't know." Wolf said evenly. "Guess you weren't really binned then, were you?"

"You're MI6?" Badger asked. Snake and Eagle mirrored his dumbstruck expression.

Fox rolled his eyes. "And they were supposed to have told you this already. They care too much about keeping their secrets, it's not like you weren't going to find out today anyway."

"So..." Eagle tried to sound casual, "Do you know who's coming tomorrow?"

"Yes." Fox said, but did not elaborate.

"You going to tell us?" Wolf growled.

"Nope." Fox shook his head, laughing at his old unit leader. "Why would I do that?"

Eagle looked at his watch and then suddenly swore. "We need to be down at the lake... five minutes ago."

The rest of the unit threw a look at the clock and started scrambling around to get ready, while Fox sat down on his bunk and began to take his time dressing. Snake paused a moment in his own rush to shout, "Hurry up, Fox!"

Fox leaned back against the wall. "Due to my arrival being at two o'clock this morning, I've been given a little bit of leeway. If you hurry, you'll only be eight and a half minutes late."

Badger was hopping around pulling on his boot while looking for his second sock. A thought struck him, and as he wheeled to look at Fox his legs came out from under him and he landed sideways on top of Eagle.

As he disentangled himself, ignoring Eagle's curses, he accused Fox, "You knew what time it was all along... didn't you?"

The rest of the unit paused to hear out his suspicions, and Fox nodded cheerfully. "Considering your planned wake-up call, I think this was deserved."

As the four K-unit members sprinted out the door, throwing insults back at him, he laughed again.

But as soon as they were out of sight, he began his own rush around the cabin. After all, fifteen minutes wasn't a lot of leeway time, and Sarge would not be impressed if he was late.

When he met them at the lake for their swim, Wolf smirked at him, and Fox restrained himself from following through on the childish urge to retort by sticking out his tongue.

The water came in waves to the shore; not huge waves pounding against the sand like they would on a windy day, for which Fox was grateful, but not exactly small waves either. It would have been pretty, he thought, looking out of the shimmering tableau in the pre-dawn light, had he not known that they had to jump in.

The air was frigid, and as expected, the water was much worse. When they were finally done with their swim, they were allowed ten minutes to change before breakfast.

Fox finished changing and drying off with three minutes to go. Eagle, already done, grinned at him.

"Aw, and didn't you miss camp?"

This time Fox gave in to his childish urge. The towel nailed Eagle in the face.

The rest of the day passed slowly for K-unit, in their eagerness to see who else was coming. Fox felt the day went by fairly quickly, as he fell easily back into his old routine. He had an evaluation after lunch; K-unit had been evaluated their first day back, and weren't with him. When he was done, the Sergeant stopped him on his way out.

"Good to have you back, Fox," he said gruffly, before continuing out the door. Fox stopped dead and stared after him in shock before hurrying back to join K-unit for their next exercise.

When dinner ended, the five of them headed back to the bunks to find that the other agent had arrived and was waiting for them.

The shorter, fair-haired figure sat facing away from them. Fox's face became a determinedly fixed mask. The agent looked up when he heard them coming, and Wolf's jaw tightened as he told himself it would be a very bad idea to go kill MI6.

It was Johnston.

**A/N: ****_Hands up, who was expecting Cub. No, this isn't going to be a Cub at Beacons story - at least I don't think it is. He'll be here soon. In the meantime, please review!_**

**_What would you like to see in upcoming chapters?_**

**_Where will they see Cub again?_**

**_What is the trait you would most dislike in a person that you want me to give to Johnston? (I will give him my favorite)_**

**_Virtual cookies to whoever answers._**


	2. A New Assignment

**A/N: So sorry for the long long wait! I got so busy last year, and then I was really ill. And then we moved, and my notebook got buried in a box. But I have it back now, and I promise I won't make you wait another year for the next chapter! But on to the story...**

**DISCLAIMER: I have kidnapped Anthony Horowitz and am stealing his identity. I own everything! Mwahaha... I have woken up from my lovely daydream. I own nothing!**

"K-unit," he said curtly. "Agent -"

"Fox." Fox cut across him shortly. "For the duration of our stay here... Peacock... my name is Fox."

Johnston glared at him. "Cute," he ground out between clenched teeth. "But then, I forgot," he said with a slight sneer, "You used to be in the lower levels too, didn't you Agent... Fox." He drew out the last word, pouring as much contempt and condescension into it as he could. He clearly hadn't taken kindly to the slight on his name.

"Just Fox, actually, Peacock." The slight emphasis on Johnston's code name had K-unit suppressing smirks. Fox had taken an immediate dislike to the man; although he'd never worked with him before, he had met him on occasion at the 'bank'. The fact that K-unit disliked him was enough to cement Fox's opinion of the other agent. "I didn't think I'd have to say this, but the purpose of code names is anonymity. Anonymity means no one knowing who you are. That includes the status of 'agent'." He said this in the patient tone of one explaining to a five-year-old why two plus two equals four, but sarcasm crept into his voice as he continued,"You're lucky K-unit already knew your status, otherwise you'd be history. Binned on the first day... what would MI6 say? Not able to cut it with those soldiers who passed a rigorous and incredibly selective screening. But of course, they are just the 'lower levels'."

Johnston glowered, but could come up with no response. The members of K-unit who had already known Fox were shocked, but Badger was grinning. He moved past Johnston into the cabin. The others followed his example, evidently still so impressed with Fox's one-upping of Johnston that they didn't have anything to say. There was no more conversation before they went to sleep that night, but the same thought was in all of their minds: _Tomorrow's going to be a long day._

It was a long day. And a long week after that. The unit and Johnston did not work well together, on anything. They acted like middle-school boys, constantly seeking out outdo each other and show each other up. It was K-unit against Johnston, with Fox tacitly supporting K-unit.

By the end of the week, they were all bad-tempered and thoroughly sick of one another. Tensions had made even the most amiable of them, Snake and Eagle, short with everyone else and each other. Badger, normally the one to play mediator, was incensed by Johnston's superiority complex and their past conflict only made their dislike worse and more volatile. The Sergeant called them all into his office and had them sit down. K-unit exchanged nervous glances. Were they going to get chewed out for their lack of cooperation in the last six days?

"Your next assignment," The Sergeant said, and there was a collective sigh of relief. Half the tension flew out of the room, to be replaced with surprise and a little indignation. Their unit was supposed to still be in recovery; they weren't ready for another mission. The debriefing was quick; they were being sent in to a protection detail. There had been an assassination attempt on a high-profile agent who would be staying in a safe-house until matters were dealt with. Fox and Johnston would accompany them. They were to follow Fox's lead on this.

Wolf looked up at the Sergeant and there was a trace of annoyance on his face. "Then why are we being sent in, if it's just for protection? Wouldn't it be more secure for the agent to stay on his own, so that fewer people know where he is? Why do we need to be there?"

The Sergeant looked disgruntled. "I was told you would understand that when you met the agent. I'm also sure there is something they're not telling me. But Fox and Peacock are being briefed by MI6, they might know more. And it might be that you don't have the _clearance,_" he spat the word, his expression telling K-unit exactly how little he thought of MI6's secrecy, "to know. So you'll be following Fox's lead."

Wolf nodded, and the Sergeant turned back to the papers at his desk. As K-unit was leaving, he looked up and said sharply, "I don't care what's been going on the past week. I don't care if you don't like each other. You will work together until this mission is complete and you will do it without complaint. Will that be a problem?"

"No, sir!" They said in unison, and the Sergeant gave them one last searching glance before nodding sharply. "Good. Dismissed!" K-unit went to collect their belongings. They didn't look each other in the eye on the way out.

**A/N: I know it's short, and I'm sorry! But I wanted to get something up, just to let you know I'm still here. I have a better idea of where this is going now. To those of you who were hoping to see more time at Brecon Beacons: I tried, but it just wasn't working. I couldn't write it well, and I didn't want to be overly cliche. But we will see Alex soon!**

**Feedback is always appreciated!**


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